There is a book called Animal Farm written by George Orwell in 1945. It is considered a great book to study, especially when examining government. It is almost regarded as a prophecy. Essentially, the book revolves around animals on a farm that feel oppressed by the farmer. When the farmer dies, they establish a government with a “constitution” written on the barn wall. Over time, this “constitution” is amended, and as corruption takes over, one of the animals becomes the leader, and they are oppressed even more than the farmer oppressed them. This is a perfect example of how legalism, even if it has a reasonable basis and a good start, will eventually lead to destruction.
God’s goal has always been relationship. When He set up the Old Covenant (Law) with Moses, He knew what was not going to work because of the prophecy in Genesis at the fall. So why did He do it that way first? To demonstrate that legalism is ineffective. The Law given by Moses was intended to allow relationships, but instead, it became a massive book of amended rules. Jesus pointed that out in Matthew 23:23. Even when Israel had the Law, they begged for a king (1 Samuel 8), wanting a written law by someone they could see. God obliged, but not without warning them that it would not work out. I believe a lot of the Old Testament was God showing us that He should be the leader in our lives. Fast forward to Christ, and we will see that again, God wanted a direct relationship with His people. Jesus did not set up a government or a hierarchy; He just talked about His assembly. Matthew 16:18 was not Jesus setting up Peter as the leader; the “rock” Jesus was referring to was what Peter said, namely, the fact that the assembly of believers was going to be based on the Holy Spirit living in their lives. Yes, the apostles did have varying degrees of relationship with Christ, but He scolded them when they discussed who was more important. (Mark 10:35~45)
In 1878, there was a meeting of believers in the US where a bunch of church leaders got together and came up with a list of fundamental beliefs that all Christians should believe in. In itself, that is not a bad thing, but it started the fundamentalist movement. That was called the Niagara Creed, and if you read over the list, I agree with most of it myself. There may be a couple of minor points, but for the most part, I agree with it. But just like in “Animal Farm,” this simple list has had many changes and different opinions on what it means. Instead of becoming something to strengthen our relationship with God, it’s now just like the Old Testament law rebranded as legalism, just like the Pharisees and the Law. It has become legalistic and corrupt, with today’s leaders emerging with the mantra of “obedience is primary” instead of “establish a relationship.” Worse yet is the idea of pushing morality on people and calling it “God’s work” when we were never called to do as such. The Christians of Acts never once tried to enter the political realm. They followed the calling to minister to the one next to them. God picks leaders, and we are to respect them. (Romans 13, Hebrews 13:17) Remember that these passages were written during a time when Christians were oppressed.
I was conducting some research on Christian movements, hoping to find one that focused on the relationship with Christ. I was somewhat disappointed. The closest I found would be the Evangelical movement, but even that, over time, has drifted into legalism. The foundation of having a parent/child relationship with the Father, a mentor relationship with the Holy Spirit, and a Covenant relationship with Christ has been clouded by legalism and personal gain. That is largely why I call this Above The Tule Fog because once you get above the legalistic fog, Scripture makes a lot more sense, and you discover how much God loves humanity and desires relationship over rules. (Matthew 12:7)
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